Evolution of queen pheromone receptor tuning in four honeybee species (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Apis)
Honeybees (genus: Apis) use a plethora of pheromones for intraspecific communication. The primary compound produced by the queen's mandibular glands, 9-ODA, is involved in mating in all Apis species. It is the ligand of the most highly expressed olfactory receptor in males of <i>Apis mellifera</i>: <i>Amel</i>OR11. Putative orthologs are found in the genomes of other Apis species: <i>Apis dorsata</i>, <i>Apis florea</i>, and <i>Apis cerana</i>. Modeling of OR11 proteins shows high structure conservation except for <i>Aflor</i>OR11. Using heterologous expression in <i>Drosophila</i> and calcium imaging, a broad odorant screening revealed that all OR11 respond predominantly to 9-ODA, but also to secondary ligands, except <i>Aflor</i>OR11, which remains specific to 9-ODA. Secondary ligands were confirmed by optical imaging of male antennal lobes in <i>A. mellifera</i>. This work supports a conserved queen sex pheromone detection channel in honeybees, albeit with an extended response spectrum possibly playing a role in reproductive isolation among species.
Authors
- Thierry Louis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4149-1796)
- Julia Mariette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5437-2796)
- Julie Carcaud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3672-9963)
- Nicolas Montagné (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8810-3853)
- Thomas Chertemps (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9255-2483)
- Emmanuelle Jacquin‐Joly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6904-2036)
- Frédéric Marion‐Poll (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6824-0180)
- Camille Meslin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2120-0936)
- Jean‐Christophe Sandoz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5423-9645)
- Eleanor Lacassagne
- Ilana Servais
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université Paris-Est Créteil (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Évolution, Génomes, Comportement, Écologie (FR)
- Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2024-10-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111243
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Plant and animal studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.17
Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale